An Analytical Method for Finding the Proper Shoes

A guide for those of us who have no idea what the heck fashion is all about (but have

the analytical skills to figure it out!)

Andrew Lambert

Before going shopping, you need to decide on your fashion item and your “wear case.”

I need casual shoes ( ) for the office and outside. They need to be classier than tennis shoes ( ).

Go to a store with the broadest selection of shoes.

Ask a store assistant to

bring you very different kinds

of casual shoes.

Store assistant’s responsibility

The assistant knows the possibility space of shoes. By bringing you very

different casual shoes, you should learn about the (theoretical) edges of the space. This will help you find your

desired shoes quicker.Store’s possibility space of inventory

shoescasualshoes

However, don’t trust the assistant’s

recommendations as they may be trying to sell you high margin items that might not represent the true edges of the space.

Share a picture of the shoes together with 3 fashionably conscious friends and ask which is

most appropriate for casual wear.

Pay attention to what your friends say about shoe shape. You will

learn about the problems of each shape, which will guide you to an

appropriate one. You can’t wear those with shorts,

bro!

Keep adjusting the shoes you grab based on your friends’ feedback until your friends seem to agree on the shape.

My friend found a shoe shape on the internet

but my store didn’t have it, so I went

elsewhere.

Once you’ve figured out what shape to get, start looking for more of these shoes. You can

now inject your preferences in since you should be an expert

in what’s acceptable.

Final step: win.(If you picked shoes that

happen to be on sale and you didn’t notice it, then you’ve

earned bonus points.)

Analytical Method Summary

1. Decide (a) fashion item and (b) "wear case"2. Visit store with broadest selection of item3. Ask store assistant to bring you many different kinds of

the fashion item4. Ask fashionably conscious friends which ones best fit

your wear case5. Keep grabbing new items based on your friends'

feedback until there is agreement on the shape.6. Once you've found the appropriate shape, you can add

some personal preference and make your selection!